The A Register: The U.S. economy is another victim of surveillance by the National Security Agency according to expatriate whistleblower Edward Snowden.

Snowden made his remarks at an event in Russia last week, footage of which surfaced on Monday. He also alleged, via The Washington Post, that the NSA has been slurping the contents of some 250 million electronic address books a year.

"These [surveillance] programs don’t make us more safe. They hurt our economy. They hurt our country. They limit our ability to speak and think and to live and be creative, to have relationships, to associate freely," said Snowden, who has been accused of aiding terrorists and America's enemies. The footage of his speech appeared on Democracy Now.